It is crucial to be able to verify the functionality of commercially available memory cards before they leave the factory, and to ensure that the cards are secure from hackers once they leave the factory. With the advent of digital rights management and the spread of protected content such as music and movies etc. . . . there is a need to ensure that the contents of the card cannot be freely copied. One way a hacker may attempt to do this is to alter or even replace the firmware that runs the memory card in order to be able to pirate the contents of the card. Thus it is essential to provide a system that ensures both the integrity and the reliability of the firmware running on the card at all times.